Overview of the
ASWB Licensure Exam
Vince Coraci, LMSW
Director of Member Services & Development
NASW-Michigan Chapter
Exam Details
• 170 Multiple choice questions (4 answers)
– 150 questions count toward your score
– 20 questions are “test” questions
• Four hours to complete the exam
• Computer administered & scored
• Passing score: 75% (113 questions)
Structure of the Exams
• Each exam is organized into content
areas, competencies, and KSA
statements.
• KSA: “Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities”
– KSA’s describe the discrete knowledge
components that may be tested in each part
of the examination, and are the basis for
individual test questions.
Bachelor’s Exam
• Human Development, Diversity, and
Behavior in the Environment – 27%
• Assessment – 28%
• Direct and Indirect Practice – 26%
• Professional Relationships, Values, and
Ethics – 19%
Advanced Generalist Exam
• Human Development, Diversity, and
Behavior in the Environment – 18%
• Micro Assessment and Planning – 22%
• Micro Practice and Social Work
Relationships – 18%
• Macro Practice – 18%
• Professional Values and Ethics – 24%
Clinical Exam
• Human Development, Diversity, and
Behavior in the Environment – 31%
• Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment
Planning – 26%
• Psychotherapy, Clinical Interventions and
Case Management – 25%
• Professional Ethics and Values – 18%
What to Expect on Exam Day
• High security
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Fingerprint
Palm scan of both hands
Picture
Provide two IDs
• No food/drink in exam room
• No outside materials allowed
• Breaks allowed – but test time will not stop
Tips & Strategies
• STUDY!
– Take a exam prep course
– Study the material (3 months)
– Take a practice exam (or more than one)
• Try to mimic exam setting (timed, quiet, etc.)
• Don’t try to ACE the exam
– You just have to PASS!
Practice Question #1
• In a beginning interview with a client, the
purpose of asking questions is to:
– 1) Probe the client’s unconscious feelings.
– 2) Obtain information about the presenting
problem.
– 3) Direct and focus the client’s conversation
on the client’s personal and family history.
– 4) Find out if the client really wants help.
Answer
• The correct answer is 2.
– Understanding the presenting problem as the
client experiences it is the first step in a social
work intervention.
Practice Question #2
• A college student who is considering a leave of
absence from school meets with a social worker in
the college counseling office for help in deciding
what to do. The student presents her ambivalence
about school, her other options, and her parents’
disapproval of her not graduating “on time”. The
social worker’s professional behavior toward the
client should incorporate:
– 1) agreement with the client to build confidence
– 2) remaining impassive to encourage the client to think for
herself
– 3) showing feelings freely to foster spontaneous interaction
– 4) avoiding fixed positions and preestablished attitudes
Answer
• The correct answer is 4.
– It is not clinically effective for the social worker
to be dishonest, or to have an inflexible style
for approaching clients. The social worker’s
approach should reflect treatment theory,
clinical goals, and be responsive to the
client’s presentation.
Practice Question #3
• In Piaget’s framework, the first stage of
cognitive development is called the:
– 1) objectless stage
– 2) sensory motor stage
– 3) oral stage
– 4) autistic stage
Answer
• The correct answer is 2.
– In Piaget’s framework of development the first
stage is called the sensory motor stage
lasting from birth until age 2. This stage is so
named because infants lack language and
therefore their experience of the world, is
through their physical beings…
Practice Question #4
• “Man on the Street” interviews are an
example of:
– 1) stratified sampling
– 2) haphazard, unsystematic sampling
– 3) quote sampling
– 4) random sampling
Answer
• The correct answer is 2.
– “Man on the Street” interviews are
unsystematic in that they are haphazard and
unplanned. Stratified sampling refers to
samples taken from predetermined categories
and random sampling refers to the equal
chance of all persons or elements in the
population to have an equal chance of being
selected. Choice 3 is a nonsense statement.
Practice Question #5
• From the agency’s perspective, the most
important objective of supervision is to:
– 1) educate workers
– 2) assist clients
– 3) promote agency goals
– 4) promote worker autonomy
Answer
• The correct answer is 3.
– While all the answers are plausible, the
primary reason an agency offers supervision
is to promote agency goals. The other
responses are also essential to agency goals,
but they are not broad enough.
Practice Question #6
• One commitment that is implicit in the NASW
Code of Ethics is that:
– 1) a social worker’s obligation to the client takes
primacy over obligations to the employer
– 2) a client represented by a social worker takes
primacy over society as a whole or other aggrieved
individuals
– 3) advocacy for one’s client takes universal
preference over institutional change
– 4) mobilization of clients is secondary to advocacy by
social workers
Answer
• The correct answer is 1.
– The NASW Code of Ethics emphasizes that
the client has the highest claim on the social
worker’s ethical agenda.